Viennese Cakes Food

VIENNESE PLUM CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease Two 8-inch Round Pans with Butter.
• Choose plums that are more blue in color than red, and are soft but not mushy. Cut the plums in half lengthwise, along the 'seam', removing the stone. If there's any fiber or remnants of a stem, trim the tip of the stem end with a paring knife. Set plum halves aside.
• Mix two teaspoons of cinnamon with the half-cup of sugar and set aside.
• In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
• Add eggs, mixing until well blended.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add half of the flour mixture into the creamed butter, stirring just until smooth; then add the remaining dry ingredients, again being careful not to over-mix. Batter will be stiff.
• Divide batter evenly into greased cake pans, spreading to fill pan to the sides.
• Press plum halves into the top of the batter, cut side up, arranging them in tight rows. You should see very little cake batter. My mother always said ".
• load 'em up!".
• Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly and generously over the top of each cake.
• Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• While my mother would pooh-pooh it, you can serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

VIENNESE WHIRLS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Put the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until fully incorporated.
• Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture using a spatula until combined (the dough should have a tacky consistency). Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle. If all the mixture doesn't fit, do it in 2 batches.
• Pipe swirly circles 5cm diameter onto 2 baking sheets making sure there are 3cm spaces between each swirl.
• Bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through the cooking time so the biscuits are evenly baked, until pale golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few mins, then transfer to wire racks.
• While the biscuits cool, make the filling. Put the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and add the icing sugar. Stir together initially with a wooden spoon then switch to electric beaters or a whisk to get the buttercream fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and beat once more to combine. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the end.
• Turn the biscuits over so their flat side is facing up then pipe buttercream over half of the biscuits and spread a little jam on the rest. Sandwich a jam covered biscuit together with a buttercream one and repeat until all the biscuits are used up.